A Hero's Rising
by Scotty-fied
Summary: AU, Heroes aren't born great, nor are they spankin hot supermen as toddlers. As for our young Ash, his journey has just begun. Follow his tale as pain, joy, suffering and love shape this young Aura Trainee into a real Guardian. Yeah, I stink at summaries.
1. Chapter 1

**Ahoy there Fanfictioners. As you can probably figure out from how I write later, this is my****first Fanfiction.**

**I'd like to clear a few things up first,**

**First, is the obvious, this is an Aura fic. However, I'll be progressing it so it won't turn too dark/serious type like the HP conventions. I'll try to write a fic that actually has a plot (Which is rare for the Anime Series),** **while keeping the lighthearted feel of the story intact. However, light hearted or not, this will get hostile, and stuff like death and killing **_will_** be present.**

**Secondly, English isn't my first language, and I honestly don't read much at all. So I may not be as good as some others here with sentence sequence/grammar. **

**And lastly, yes, it's a romance fic. But I'm afraid there won't be any serious stuff until around chapter 6-7, and it would probably progress slowly, Ash being who he is. I'll try to keep in interesting until then, and would focus more on the adventure part of the fic. **

**The prologue, which is the first part of this chapter, might seem a bit weird/oldie. But since it's necessary for plot development, I can't really skip over it. This whole chapter might not be as much interesting as the others would be, since it as the intros and stuff which I'm really bad at. :|**

A calm and cloudless night. One would expect the people to be calmly passed out in their bunks. And that was the case with most of the Valley too, except one village.

Yumi. A peace-loving and prosperous village, right at the heart of the Valley of Life. Though the village was usually very calm and uninterestingly quiet, today seemed to be quite the opposite. Festive music and Neon lights lit the village up. Everyone seemed to have ditched their houses for the night, the streets were already brimming with people.

Among the sea of flesh and clothes, were two children that stood out from everyone else. The older one was carrying the child piggyback, and the younger was half passed out on his shoulder.

The older boy was looking down as he walked and consequently ran into a man almost a foot taller than him. Most of his slender body was covered by a black traveling cloak, which was strange since the village rarely had any visitors. His eyes were shrouded by the shadow cast by his hood.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't looking." Brock apologized rubbing his head sheepishly.

The stranger stayed quiet. He was looking at Ash, and for a split second, Brock thought his eyes glinted red under the shadow. After a whole minute of awkward silence, the stranger hung his head.

"It's fine." He nodded curtly and he walked past the boys.

"Never seen _that _guy around." Ash said wonderingly, his head resting on Brock's shoulder. "Yutaka really draws in some strange customers..."

The boy who was carrying the child had spiky black hair with a red bandana to keep them out of his face. He was well built for a teenager, more than five and a half feet tall. His tanned skin and black slits for eyes indicated he'd been out in the sun for too long. The child on his back seemed to be much younger, not more than 11. He had similar spiky black hair, except that his was messier and unkempt. His big brown eyes were full of wonder and amazement.

"Hey, hey! Brock! Mommy told me you'd buy me some pastries from Mr. Brunners." The younger boy told the older.

Brock smiled amusedly. He'd gotten used to Ash's little tricks.

"Feeble try, Ash. Aunt Delia would be the last person to ask me to buy sweets for you."

Ash's cursed under his breath and stuck his tongue out at Brock.

They continued walking down the lane. Ash was making light conversations about how his mother's latest victory over Brock had earned Ash some tasty freebies. He loved reminding Brock of their records. After a while though, Brock stopped walking.

"You know... I guess some pastries wouldn't hurt after how you helped Mr. Gardner with the preparations this morning." Brock said wonderingly . Ash's eyes lit up. "But if Aunt Delia asks~"

Ash nodded and moved his fingers over his lips in a zipping motion.

Mr. Brunners, their favorite shop was overloaded with customers. But fortunately for the two, Ash knew a secret way in through the basement entrance. The old man always gave them a discount, and didn't complain if they sneaked right in the middle of the kitchen from undershop. Mr Brunners had this weird habit of always ruffling Ash's hair and shaping them like one of his Sugar-Ducks. Brock figured that the old man was probably the only one able to tame Ash's hair.

The streets were still bustling, excitement contagious, but one could tell that Ash and Brock had had a long day. They'd volunteered to help with the preparations, and it hadn't been an easy job. Brock's knees already felt like his signature Cheese Jerky. Ash insisted on visiting the park since it was away from the market streets. It was deserted as usual. Brock figured the kids were out on the streets, playing pranks on passers by.

"You know... We've been having this Yutaka festival in our village for ages..." Ash said questioningly. "But why DO we have it anyways? Did someone invent something?"

"Yes. You could say that..." Brock smiled gazing towards the horizon.

"Who was?" Ash was getting impatient towards Brock's confusing answers. He always did that to tease Ash.

"Well, it happened around 8 years ago... on a stormy nigh-"

"NO! Not more of your Grandpa stories, Brock!" Ash groaned. Brock chuckled.

"Oh, this won't last as long as the others." Brock reassured.

He set Ash down on the park bench, but himself remained standing, still staring down the horizon.

Ash stared at Brock intently, trying to detect a bluff. After a whole minute, he sighed.

"If you say so..."

Brock's expression turned dark, as if he knew he was gonna regret speaking about this later.

"Well, it happened almost 8 years ago. Our village, Yumi didn't use to be as peaceful as it is now.

The world was suffering from the effects of a war between the regions of Hoenn and Kanto. Fights,famine,bloodshed, death, the regions were on the verge of annihilation."

Brock pointed at a mountain south to the village. Ash squinted. The mountain was pretty far away. It was fairly tall and kinda burrito shaped. Most of the peak was shrouded in mist. Looking at the thing, Ash felt a surge of nativeness. Like that was a place that was completely untamed, and everything and everyone living there were wild and uncontrolled.

"Mount Regal. Ironic name, since that mountain isn't inhabited by humans at all." Brock grimaced. "That mountain separates the regions of Hoenn and Kanto. The Rota Village lies at the foot of the village."

"Whoa-Whoa, wait. The Rota Village? Like, the Village where the Cameron palace is situated? The birthplace and palace of Lady Rin?" Ash said in disbelief. Brock smiled sadly.

"Yes, exactly that one. The village itself was the ex-capital of this district of Kanto, before it was succeeded by Yumi. It was also the only way in for the Hoenn armies in this sector, so when Hoenn attacked, the war came first to Rota. Battles here were common around those times.

Men had to march hundreds of miles to reach here, so naturally, there weren't enough resources and provisions for the armies. Thus, the warring parties often raided Yumi and surrounding villages in search of supplies.

We tried our best to ward off the attacks, but we were just village farmers. We had no way of defending ourselves. We couldn't hold out against them. They killed whoever and whatever stood in their way, took whatever they wanted and left off to their battles. Our population dropped to one tenth of the original. The few who survived, well, they were all injured in some way. No one was left without a scar. "

"Woah. That bad? But then... How are we still here?" Ash pondered. "We should have been shish kebab'ed..."

"We would have been if the battles continued. One day though, when a battle was due to happen right beside the Cameron palace, a person appeared. It is said that he climbed out of a mine hole, but well, you know how these kinda stories are. Anyways, this man, he had a flute. A flute that was imbued with the Aura of the Tree Of Life. As soon as he played that Flute, the warring parties stopped battling. They came to an understanding and made peace with each other. They even sent us some tributes as gifts to regenerate our farmlands."

"Wait, huh? Just like that? I mean, how can some Flute just scare away fighting? Was the music that bad? Isn't that all magic and fairytails stuff?" It was true Music always calmed Ash down, but he wasn't very sure the same would happen if he was on a battlefield fighting for his life.

"You'll find that real life is more twisted than fairytails, Ash. It is said that the music produced by the Flute dissolved the anger and bitterness that had accumulated in men's hearts after years of bloodshed. The music allowed them to understand each other's sorrows and conditions. They were able to realize that their opponent didn't want personal gain, but they were merely fighting to survive, like they themselves were. The regions ultimately formed an alliance with each other."

"Riiight..." Brock's occasional history fits made Ash dizzy, and this one wasn't any exception.

"As to what you said, Ash. Yes, he did invent something that day."

"Magical Flutes?"

"It was Hope, Ash." It got just the reaction he'd expected. Ash looked at Brock like he'd evolved into a hobo. "Hope was a feeling this village hadn't ever experienced, being constantly ravaged by war and famine. It had been almost impossible to wish or imagine a future with peaceful harvests. Dreams cannot be accomplished without motivation, Ash and hope was a motivation that brought peace to this valley."

"I just don't get it..." Ash sighed.

"Hope is a powerful thing, Ash. You'll understand one that day." Brock said, smiling mischievously. "When you grow up, of course."

"You always say that..." Ash whined. "I _am_ grown up!"

Brock smiled and ruffled Ash's hair.

"Come on now. I wanna show you a place."

_1 year Later_

**ASH**

"Ash! Get up~! You don't wanna miss breakfast~"

"Coming Mom..." Ash groaned as he picked himself off his bed. His room was just as he remembered from last night. Messy, with clothes on the floor, a lotta empty soda cans stuffed beneath the carpet and just small traces of visible plywood floor. He always wondered how he managed to get it so messed up.

"Mr. Gardner has invited us to his house today. Go on and freshen up while I go fix breakfast for you and Giovanni." Delia called from downstairs. Ash rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and walked downstairs.

Delia Ketchum: An optimistic and slightly eccentric mom who's always supportive of Ash. She has kept her last name of Ketchum even after marrying Giovanni Sparks. An excellent cook, always winning cooking contests with Brock. Ash respects her to the utmost, although he can't help but feel embarrassed at his Mom's childish remarks of him, the most famous being "Don't forget to change your underwear!"

"Hey Ash! Come here for a moment!" Someone called out from outside the washroom. It was a deep, yet firm voice with a slight lisp. Kind of like a Scottish School Principal. Ash followed the voice, knowing whose it was.

"Yes?" The man was fairly tall with a strict face and well groomed hair. His eyes were fixed on his newspaper.

"Misty called in earlier. She wanted you to meet up with her at her house." Giovanni stated. "You should hurry up. It's been almost an hour already and well, you know how impatient she can be."

Giovanni Sparks: The husband of Delia Ketchum and stepfather of Ash Ketchum. He used to be one of their family friends and Ash's Godfather, but married Delia after the untimely death of Ash's father. Despite being a rich businessman and a man of a serious attitude, he is actually very kind and compassionate and loves his wife and Ash dearly. Ash prefers to call him by his name, because he says calling him "Dad" just makes him feel weird.

"Got it. Thanks," Ash smiled.

"Oh, and Ash?" Giovanni winked. "She said something about going to some place with you. Do invite her for dinner, yes?"

"Sure, No probs." Ash smiled. Giovanni facepalmed. "Gotta go now. It's been a while since I saw Misty and I'm _thinking_ she won't be too happy about me being late."

As far as Ash knew, he was already running too late. He'd seen Misty chew Brock out for a 5 minute tea break. He didn't wanna know what Misty would do to Ash being late just after she returned her trip. Ash grabbed the toast from the dining table and sprinted out of the house.

"Be back in a bit, Mom!" Ash cried.

Yumi was one of those villages that was large and advanced enough to be called a city, though it didn't have as many people. It was the kind of place in which everybody knew everybody and no villager was a stranger to one another. Misty's house was just three blocks away from Ash's. It was dazzling blue and dome-shaped. It looked like it was made more for show than living in, but that was prolly necessary since it was an Aquarium and all. Misty was standing outside the door, tapping her feet. She looked beyond mad.

She had her hair tied up in a pony, just on the side of her head. Her electric blue eyes were fierce and aggressive, which only made Ash tremble even more.

"ASH! You're late!" Misty boomed at him.

Misty Waterflower: A 13 year old, strong minded girl that can skin you alive if you manage to get on her bad side, which unfortunately is very easy to do. She is Ash's childhood friend and has questionable feelings for our young hero. She is very protective of Ash, often lashing out at anybody who tries to make their move. Nevertheless, she has a calm and strategic attitude during times of difficulties. An aura user with an elemental affinity for water and ice.

He tried to wave it off with a simple "Hi there, Misty." since he knew arguing would prolly get him killed.

"Don't you 'hi there' me, Ketchum. I've been waiting here half an hour. I called ages ago. What the hell were you doing?" Misty shrieked at him.

"Um... Guess I just... slept in." Ash laughed nervously. He then nodded vigorously. "But-I came as fast as I could, you know."

"Fix how you sleep, Spine head." Misty sighed. "One week and you still haven't changed, have you?"

"Oh yeah! How was your trip to Sootopolis City?" Ash said, trying to get off topic. Misty's eyes instantly got dreamy. Bingo!

"Oh, Sootopolis city! It's a wonderful place with all the Water Pokemon swimming in mid street lakes and the people love Water Pokemon and all the tentacruel are calm and every home has a pool full of- Wait! The Summons!" Misty looked horrified to have forgotten about them.

"What summons?"

"Well, the Elder has called for Brock, you and me." Misty explained. Ash looked behind himself.

"You and who?" He asked confusedly. Misty rolled her eyes.

"You, idiot." She sighed in exasperation. Ash however, looked completely horrified. "Now to Brock's house, we don't have much time left."

"Wait-Wait-... Me? To the council? Whoa, but...I'm just a kid!" Ash said, starstruck.

"What do you mean? You are one of the only three in our village who shows signs of being able to manipulate Aura. The Elders even say that your Aura is one of the strongest they've sensed so far." Misty spoke, as if all that was obvious.

"Huh? Wai-Wait... I'm still just a kid! I can't go to a big meeting like that! I'll mess up or something!" Ash protested.

"Oh you'll be fine, just keep your cool and talk formally."

"That's exactly it. I don't do formal..." Ash wailed.

"You're going to that meeting." Misty stepped towards Ash and glared at him with deadly eyes. "Right Ash?"

"R-Right..." Ash stammered.

"Alright now on to Brock's pl- WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU WEARING?" Misty shrieked.

Ash looked down at his clothes and cursed. He'd forgotten to get changed after getting up. He was still in his blue and green Pikachu brand night suit.

"It's uh...my-"

"I know what it is, Ash." Misty snapped. "Leave it to you to meet the Elder in a nightgown."

"It's a nightsuit!" Ash protested.

"Whatever. Now hurry up, we've already lost too much time cuz of you." Misty said, dragging Ash to the next block.

Brock's house was a big place, decorated with carved rocks and sculptures that you would expect in a Japanese castle, rather than a village house. Misty slammed her fist on the door which Ash figured would've either dented the wood or cracked it's insides.

"Brock! You're Summoned! Out!" Misty shouted. After some awkward silence, a tanned person with a toothbrush and a towel in hand came outside.

"Alright! Alright! No need to shout, the neighbors will panic and call the villagers again." Brock sighed, then took notice of Ash. "Hey, Ash. You're here too? Something big is gonna happen if all three of us have been summoned."

Brock Harrison: An 16 year old aura user who has a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. His parents died protecting the village some time ago, and since then, being the oldest, he has been taking care of his numerous younger siblings. A caring man, Brock has mastered all the jobs of a housewife including cooking, cleaning and unimpressively, scolding. He often competes against Ash's mother, his adopted 'Aunt' as he likes to call her, in cooking contests. Brock cares deeply for Ash, considering him to be another one of his own brothers. He is also quite attracted to older Females.

Ash hadn't thought about that. The Elder often summoned Brock and Misty separately, but they had never summoned both of them at once. And Ash himself had never even seen him.

After Brock ditched his toothbrush and towel and freshened up, all three of them continued down the same road towards the Market Square until they saw a large dome shaped building built out of brick and mud. It had a thatched roof, yet, Ash had a feeling that the rooftop was a lot stronger than it looked.

"Here we are." Ash said distantly. Brock and Misty nodded.

"Now Ash. Remember, you're gonna meet Professor Oak, the head of the Village council. Be formal and behave...normally." Misty said.

"Yes, mom..." Ash grumbled.

"Ash, this is serious. The Elder, Professor Oak doesn't just summon anyone. If you've been called here, well, it can't be something good." Brock said grimly.

"Isn't Professor Oak Gary's grandfather?" Ash asked randomly. Brock stared at him.

"Well, yeah, but ever since Gary went south, there hasn't been much interaction between them, so don't mention him in front of the professor." Misty urged.

"Well alright then." Ash said.

They entered from the Main Gate. Ash had never seen the inside of the structure. Him and most of the villagers weren't allowed in there. It was a large circular room. There wasn't much lighting, just standard CFLs on the roof. The room had a big round table, with around twelve chairs.

"Welcome..." A voice spoke out. It was an elderly man's voice. It sounded ancient, yet it had a commanding tone to it.

Ash squinted and tried to make out the figure in the dark. An tall old guy wearing long robes with full sleeves was sitting at the chair farthest from them at the circular table so he looked like a Lord Of The Rings Cos-player.

"Er...Good morning...Sir." Ash stammered, not knowing what else to say.

Misty nudged him and knelt. Ash looked to his right and saw Brock doing the same. He decided to trust Misty this once and followed their example, clumsily dropping down to a kneeling position. Even as he knelt down, he realized that Misty and Brock were already getting up. He stood up again, almost tripping over Brock's feet. The elder coughed and smiled.

"Ash, you ha-" The elderly person started. Unfortunately Ash, who thought the elder said it out of frustration, screamed a loud "SORRY!".

The elder laughed lightly and waved his hand towards Brock as a gesture to help him up.

"Ash, I realize this is our first meeting, but there is no need to be nervous," The Elderly person smiled. "My name is Samuel Oak, and I'm the Elder of the Yumi council. You, as well as Brock and Misty have been summoned here, to inform you that your journey is about to begin."

Ash stiffened and immediately picked himself off the ground. Misty and Brock however looked at Oak in disbelief.

"Already huh?" Brock said wonderingly.

"Of course. He's old enough and I found a...quite appropriate teacher this time." Oak said.

"What journey? What teacher?" Ash asked in confusion. Oak smiled at him.

"I think you know. Ash, do you know the previous Aura Guardian that was trained in our Village?" Oak asked politely.

"Sir Riley Gen, given the title of 'The Blue spark' of Yumi?" Ash recited. He loved everything about Aura Guardians, it was no surprise he had learned about every Aura guardian to date.

"Yes, that is correct. And, do you know 'how' he became one?" Oak asked curiously. Ash opened his mouth, then closed it again. He hadn't ever been told by anyone exactly 'how' Sir Riley trained. Mr. Oak smiled at the young Ash.

"Do you know how many Aura Guardians there are, Ash?" Oak scratched his chin, curiously looking at the boy, who looked confused.

"Um... I dunno... There weren't many... Don't remember the number..." Ash laughed sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head.

"That's because there were thousands of them." Oak stated and chuckled at Ash's half annoyed, half dumbfounded expression.

"But..."

"Yes, in these recent years, only a few have emerged. But that's because the number of Aura users have greatly decreased since..well.." Oak trailed off.

"Since what?" Ash demanded. Curiosity always killed Ash, and this old timer wasn't helping. Oak looked surprised that Ash didn't know about it.

"An event, known as...The Aura War."

Even as it was day and pretty warm, Ash couldn't help but feel a chill up his body. Thunder boomed from outside, giving the signs of a storm... Ash looked at Misty and Brock, who had seemed to have gone through the same thing, despite being calm during most of the conversation. He could tell they had heard it about it before, and they weren't too big on doing it again.

"...The Aura War?" Ash forced the words out of his mouth. He knew he was gonna regret it the instant he saw Oak's dark expression.

"It was a time of great destruction... Around a century ago, the cult Aura Guardians split into two factions. One side believed that Aura Users should be the upperclassmen, and common people should be their slaves- They believed that having the gift of Aura gave them the power to rule over common masses. This side was known as 'The Shadow Auras' representing how their hearts had been tainted by the greed for power. Shadow Auras were led by a dark and extremely powerful leader, whose name has been forgotten over the years." Oak sighed in dismay. Ash could tell Oak was a historic sort of person. He hated when historical treasures were lost, though he didn't seem to treat this leader with as much respect.

"The other side, the true Aura Guardians, believed and held by that it was the sworn duty of the Aura Guardians to protect people, not make them suffer. They were against the Shadow Auras' doctrines, naming them as traitors to Aura, which ultimately resulted in an all out war."

Oak sighed sadly. He looked at Ash with pained eyes, and for the first time, Ash truly felt sorry for the old man. He could already tell that the story had ended in a tragedy.

"Both sides fought each other for 10 years. Those 10 years...They were horrifying... The world was on the brink of destruction. Trillions of innocent non-aura people were killed. With each passing year, the deaths only increased. Buildings were razed. Civilizations were eradicated. The world was at war with itself. Many people tried to stop the war, but they were crushed with a heavy foot. This horrifying nightmare was ended when Sir Aaron, the strongest Guardian of Aura that ever appeared, was forced to take part in the battle." Oak explained.

Ash's eyes grew as big as saucers. Out of all the Aura Guardians, Sir Aaron was whom he looked up to the most. He existed over a hundred years, yet, the deeds he did made his name Legendary.

"He was enraged at the senseless killing of fellow Aura users and innocent people. The side that protected the people pleaded with him to end the war. They were tired of fighting their own corrupted brethren. Sir Aaron was not one for violence. He only fought when necessary. And even then, he never aimed to kill. Arguments broke out, but finally, an agreement was made. If Sir Aaron could defeat their Leader in a duel to the death, the Shadow Auras would retreat, and peace would finally arrive. Following this, Sir Aaron defeated their leader, but instead of stopping the war, the thousands of Shadow Auras that were present there there, turned on Sir Aaron. Sir Aaron's Aura Guardians were helpless. They were tricked and trapped during the battle. Now, If Sir Aaron was at his full power, he may have defeated all of the Shadow Auras, but he was exhausted and weakened from his fight with their leader. Legend is, he fought non-stop for 3 days and 3 nights. He managed to thwart off most of them, nearly killing himself in the process. But yet, Sir Aaron was exhausted, and there were still some Shadow Auras remaining. " Oak narrated. He hadn't the heart to go into every detail, the war was too terrifying.

"What happened after that? Did Sir Aaron win?" Ash asked eagerly. Even though he was scared as heck, his curiosity got the better of him. He could never stand the cliffhangers on his TV shows.

"Nobody knows for certain. Some say he used up his last strength to summon a giant storm, which annihilated the remaining Shadow Auras. The records are hazy." Oak frowned, like this idea really bothered him. "Anyways, after that, the legacy of Aura Guardians started to decline. Aura Guardians decreased in number until they were just in two digits and then to single digits. On the other hand, Shadow Auras weren't completely gone. Many of them survived, and lived. They still live up to this day, killing People. Increasing their power. Waiting for an opportunity to strike. The regions still warred with each other, for land, for Pokemon, and for economy. These wars haven't ended, even up to this day."

"But then...Shouldn't the Shadow Auras be really really old by now?" Ash asked confusedly. Oak shook his head.

"No, Ash... The Shadow Auras don't age. During the war, their leader found a way to prolong dark aura, thus making Shadow Auras invulnerable to aging. They can be killed, but they would never die a natural death, nor would they ever age or catch a disease..."

Ash sat down on a stool, and rubbed his temples. It was just too much to process. There were so many questions running around in his head, he felt like his brain would turn to mush.

"But-Wait... After the war... How did Aura Guardians die? You said Sir Aaron's Aura Guardians were trapped. They weren't killed. And what about their children? And why did the Shadow Auras survive? How are there more of them than Aura Guardians?" Ash argued. He knew sounded whiny, but he just couldn't believe a bunch of guys could suddenly get up and die after surviving a war. Oak expression was pained. He looked at Ash with sympathy.

"War is a powerful thing, Ash. It's ugly, and never results in anything good. After the war, people resented the Aura Guardians. Over half the world's population had been killed by the Shadow Auras, and most of the other half was left severely injured. People blamed the power of Aura. They thought that if they continued living this way, another Aura Guardian was bound to turn against his brothers and start another killing spree like the Shadow Auras. The people started killing all the Aura Guardians. The Aura guardians were already beat up from the war, they didn't have the strength to face angry mobs of people. The practice began with the Unova region, and it...spread. Children with Aura Potentials were slaughtered, along with the adult guardians. The ones who survived began to reject the power of Aura until it died out in them. They thought if they revealed it, the mobs would turn to them and kill them too. Ultimately, the gift of Aura, came to a tragic fall... As for the Shadow Auras, they had gained some sinister powers under their leader. They lived in hiding, plotting and killing... With every person they killed, their powers increased. There are just a few Shadow Auras left now. But they are as strong as all armies put together." Oak suppressed a sigh.

Ash was still confused over all this. It all seemed like a dream. He looked towards Brock and Misty, expecting them to scream, "Fooled ya!" Or "He's a nutcase," just so Ash could be sure all this wasn't all true. Both of them were looking dead serious. Ash turned towards Oak.

"But...won't the people call us outcasts and kill us the moment we step out of Yumi? They hate everyone with the power of Aura, right?" Ash asked insecurely. To his surprise, Oak laughed dryly.

"Times have changed, my boy. Over time, people came to realize their mistake. They knew that Aura Guardians were meant to protect them, and to be respected. It was the darkness of the war that had clouded their judgment. Unfortunately, they realized it too late, and as of currently, not including you three, there are only nine or so Aura Guardians left..." Oak said bitterly.

Ash's shoulders slumped. He felt like an endangered species that should be locked up in a safari park. He glanced at Brock and Misty. They were one of the only ones of his kind... He made a silent vow to stick to them more.

"If we have the Power of Aura, aren't our parents supposed to have it? Like, isn't Aura-fication genetic or anything?" Ash asked abruptly. Oak chuckled.

"That's one of the reasons why there are so few Aura Guardians today, Ash. All the Aura Guardians were killed in the slaughter of the people. Their sired children were killed too. There IS no remaining genetic Aura Guardian... However... over the years, some Aura users sired from normal people appear. Very rare instances of people that were gifted with the power of Aura, despite their parents being normal non-aura people. You three," He raised his hands towards them. "Are such people. However, Don't think that their power is any less than that of the original Aura Guardians," Oak smiled.

"Who _was_ my father?" Ash knew the answer already. He'd been told that a million times. Both by his Mom and some elders of the village. Oak smiled at Ash apologetically.

"You'll know in time, Ash." Oak said. There it was. The ol "In time." thing. "On your journey, you will learn many things. Some about others, some about yourself. But know, that all pure bloods now, are dead."

"So..uh, What am I supposed to do?" He didn't know why, but Ash felt a kind of determined anger. Maybe it was because of how the Shadow Auras stained the name of Aura Guardians and forced people to hate them. Maybe it was because the Aura Guardians had died, while the Shadow Auras survived, and are still killing people for their own dark desires. But he felt the strong urge to defeat these Shadows.

Oak smiled politely. "There are two types of training, as well as a final quest you must receive before you can be titled a True Guardian of Aura. You will also be taught various exercises you must know if you are to survive on your own. You will be taught in the ways of the sword. Since Brock is the oldest, he'll be your leader during your training. Our instructors will teach you all weaponry simultaneously. " Oak explained. Ash was about to ask about how the heck would they get machine guns and lasers in a village like Yumi, but Misty beat him.

"But-Sir, Why weren't me or Brock taught this before? Why now?" Misty was a smart one. She could snatch up meanings that were usually hidden. Ash knew that too well...

"Well, Misty, it's because we wanted you to survive." Oak said simply, to which of course, Misty gaped like a Hippo.

"Sorry?"

"Well, you see, there are some people who would die to kill an Aura Guardian. They say that the power of Aura is passed down to whoever kills the Guardian, which is probably just folklore, but well, people believe it. Of course, a Non-Aura Person would never be able to defeat a fully Grown Aura Guardian. Guardians can predict their movements before they even think them up. An Aura Guardian in training however..." Oak glanced at them nervously. Ash knew he was hoping they wouldn't translate it as "Aura Students like you are even weaker than normal people!". So of course, Ash thought exactly that. Oak continued:

"Anyways we waited for Ash to mature. Teachers are hard to find in these times, and we thought it would be better if you three trained under a single one. Besides, it'll not be long before Shadow Auras start sensing your presences. You need to fight as a team to defeat them. They're elite Duelists who have been fighting and killing for years. You'll need every help you can get." Oak said grimly.

"Alright then. Let's get training then!" Ash cried. He'd never been a violent, fighting kinda person, but hearing about Shadow Auras had made him angry.

They had stained the name of Aura Guardians. They were responsible for the downfall of Aura. He needed to get stronger to beat all of them big bullies.

"Very well. Your training will begin tomorrow. You are to meet me here at 8 in the morning sharp." Oak said.

"You're gonna teach us?" Ash asked as politely as possible. He had that weird mental image of Oak using a machine gun to ward off some blue Cyclopes.

"Oh no, not me." Oak smiled as if the idea amused him. "You're gonna have a teacher. And No, Ash, Machine Guns and bombs don't affect Aura Guardians."

Ash was too stunned to acknowledge how Oak had known about what he was thinking. He shook his head smiling.

"Oh come on. Guns can kill anybody- W-Wait... What're you doin-" Ash asked nervously, his hands in the air. Oak had taken out a pistol from under his table, gods know how, and pointed it straight at Ash's chest. Ash froze. Misty looked horrified. Brock however was watching like he was enjoying his soap opera.

"This won't hurt at all." Oak said soothingly, but his voice also had that mischievous cold tone, the sort of tone older people do when they're teasing a kid. Ash closed his eyes. He could hear Oak pulling the trigger and that loud bang of the gun. Strangely, he didn't feel the pain. Sure he had felt a slight push from where the bullet must have hit him, but no pain. He opened his eyes and looked down.

The bullet had stopped, as in, LITERALLY stopped. It was suspended in mid-air, surrounded by a bluish light. It was just touching Ash's chest, making no effort to pierce his skin. The bluish light had acted as an armor and took the hit instead of Ash.

"Is-Is that..." Ash gaped at Oak, who just smiled amusedly.

"Yes, Ash. That's your Aura." Oak said calmly.

Ash stared at the bluish light. Okay, not as dramatic as he thought it would look like. It was just starting to fade. The bullet fell to the ground with a soft clank. Ash was just about to ask Oak how the heck were they supposed to be 'Aura Guardians' when it was the 'Aura' that guarded 'THEM', when Misty cut him off yet again.

"Sir, aren't we invulnerable then? If no weapon can kill us, there's no way a normal human could hurt us and take our powers, right?" Misty asked curiously. Ash was surprised at how she could speak at all. Her face looked ashen and she still looked as if she expected the bullet to rise up and end Ash's days. Oak's expression however, turned dark an Umbreon.

"There is no invulnerable being in this world, Child. Aura users can't be killed by normal weapons, however, they CAN be killed with Aura Imbued weapons." Oak said grimly.

"Aura Imbued Weapons?" Misty forced the words out. She looked pale. Very, very pale, which wasn't very misty-ish.

"Weapons that have been enhanced by the power of Aura." Oak explained. "Really rare. Hard as hell to make. There used to be many when during the time of the Aura Guardians. They're indestructible by non-aura means, so most of them are probably just lost. Non-Aura users can use them, but not make them. Your teacher will lend you some from his collection."

"Do they like...glow blue or something?" Ash asked abruptly. He wasn't sure how the color scheme question had popped up in his mind, but it'd be cool to know that you could use your lethal, cutting edge sword as a blue flashlight.

"No, they don't." There goes an idea down the drain. "But you'll know if they're Aura weapons or not."

"How?" Ash asked curiously. It wasn't like the blade could have 'Aura' symbol on it could it? It'd look like a cheap company toy.

"You'll see." Oak smirked mischievously and for the millionth time, Ash noted how he hated that answer. "Be on time tomorrow morning, Aura Trainees. Until then, good fortune to you."

Ash had a million questions whizzing in his head. What was the Path of Aura? How'd they, one of the only Aura Guardians, end up in the same village? How were they supposed to control their Aura? Why did Oak say "Good fortune to you, 'UNTIL THEN'" like he wouldn't have any luck after it? But the aging Elder's tone made it clear. His audience with the old timer, was over.

Half an hour later, the trio was at McD's. They weren't doing very well with the mood thing. Misty looked like she'd just swallowed a mouse. Ash looked like he'd been run over by a hundred trucks. Strangely, Brock looked completely calm.

"You knew this, Brock? You know the Aura stuff and the history?" Ash asked in wonder. Brock just grinned.

"Well, yeah. Misty knew about it too, all except the thing about the weapons." Brock glanced nervously at Misty. She still hadn't recovered from the shock. Ash didn't know why it bothered her so much, but he decided not to ask.

"Mhm... So...Meet you tomorrow?" Ash said uncertainly. Brock looked at Ash sympathetically.

"A lot to process, isn't it?" Brock said worriedly.

"Yes." Ash admitted. For some strange reason, he had a feeling he'd be hearing about much, much stranger things tomorrow. Things that weren't good for a full stomach...

Ash had trouble sleeping that night. When he did, however, he slept like a rock. His dreams weren't much help. They kept showing some weird dude in full battle armor and a hard, war-trodden face. His size could have made wrestlers wet their loincloths. He was looking at Ash with bloodshot eyes full of cruel hunger. He spoke with a weird accent. Sort of like a viking and Pirate hybrid, if you break his front teeth. Ash didn't know why he spoke like that, considering that the guy's teeth were fine- Well, almost fine, ignoring the black smudges they had on them plus the tobacco red. This guy was a dentist's nightmare.

"I await you, Ash Ketchum. You will be a valuable pawn to kill. Your death shall bring me power without limits..." The viking dude said gruffly.

"I don-"The dream shifted as Ash tried to reply.

He was standing in a big field. A really, really big field. There was grass everywhere, with patches of trees clustered together. Animals were playing everywhere, rabbits, deers and even Elephants and Koalas. The place wasn't like some mall and all. It wasn't made up, or decorated. It emitted its own warm natural glow. But somehow, Ash knew that this place would soon be in ruins... It's beauty would be snatched away.

The dream shifted again. He was standing in a forge. A blacksmith with flowing red hair and blue streaks was hammering a red hot metal piece. He had a rough face, and his arms were covered with iron burns. The blacksmith didn't seem to notice Ash standing beside him. He was grumbling something. Ash moved in closer to listen to what he was saying.

"Stupid...Bandits...Raid my town? Oh no they don't... We'll stand battle-ready!" He was mumbling. Then, the dream suddenly went black and white. The blacksmith was frozen in time. He suddenly looked back and grabbed Ash's shoulders. His eyes had gone all white. He spoke with a raspy voice that definitely didn't belong to him.

"Do not travel south..." The raspy voice screamed, and as if to prove his point, the possessed blacksmith shook Ash vigorously.

Ash woke up in cold sweat. His mother was shaking him.

"Thank goodness you're awake! I didn't want you to miss your first class!" His mother urged. Ash rolled his eyes and got off bed.

"What time is it, Mum?" Ash asked lazily. He wasn't real excited about going to the Aura classes so early in the morning, but then he thought of what Misty might do to him if he missed it and got wide eyed.

His mom checked the clock. It was 7 AM. Ash started sweating. He was thinking of a thousand scenarios of how Misty might wipe out his existence, when his mom urged him to get ready.

Getting ready for Ash was no trouble. He wore exactly the same type of clothes everyday. His Mom said it was 'an inherent habit' of his. Ash could never figure out why she said that, because as far as he knew, he'd never seen his mom wear one dress more than two days before switching over to something else.

He put on a baggy jeans with a black vest/jacket thingy with a yellow stripe. Ash liked to say that the stripe was a sign of his friendship towards Pikachu, as well as the symbol of thunderous power. The reality? He'd smudged it on by accident when his brush slipped out of his hand in painting class. Consequently, he did it on every jacket to make it seem like it wasn't by accident.

Waking up Pikachu was like poking an angry Mankey. As soon as he shook Pikachu gently and told him to wake up, Ash was blessed with thousands of Volts of electricity. That was one of the reasons why Ash preferred to sleep in at mornings.

"Come on, Buddy. Aura Pracs today. Gonna need you." Ash said shakily, straightening out his electrified hair.

Pikachu: Ash's Pokemon companion and his best Pokefriend. Pikachu is an electric Rodent Pokemon that Ash found when he was ten. He is one of Ash's most trusted companions, as well as being his only Pokemon. Pikachu is a relatively calm and levelheaded Pokemon, often preferring words over swords. Nevertheless, he's a powerful Pokemon that can often topple even giants like Charizards.

As Ash left his house, he started feeling nervous. He was aware of Pikachu on his shoulders, so he resisted the urge to start shaking. He wondered how and who his teacher would be. Ash knew almost every citizen in Yumi and as far as he figured, there wasn't one person with a side-profession of teaching young inexperienced kids how to handle extremely dangerous Aura tools. Heck, he wasn't even sure they HAD weapons in a peaceful village like Yumi. It wasn't a village that was attacked or raided very often. One might think it was a village, but it was almost as prosperous as a city. Bandits didn't dare attack them, for fear of the unity of the villagers. Ash bit his lower lip. As usual, his mind was turning into Horse-Feed because of the storm of thoughts in his head. Ash checked his wristwatch. It was About 7:40 AM.

Brock and Misty had told him to meet up with them outside the headquarters. He continued walking, looking at the ground and trying to rack his brains. Misty had been acting strange yesterday. He'd known the redhead as a fiesty Tomboy often beating the pulp out of the neighboring boys. Yet, she seemed so shaken up yesterday. He wondered what could have happened with her to get her so scared of weapon talk.

And then there was Brock. He always emitted an Aura of calmness and understanding, and even he had looked pretty worried about the classes. It was obvious he had known about all this beforehand, but if that much time wasn't enough to get him used to the idea, Ash didn't know what was.

Ash looked at Pikachu. The guy looked as calm as a Pokemon can be. He figured that since Pokemon are used to battling and stuff, Pikachu wouldn't mind these classes. As for Ash, he'd never held a weapon before in his life. He couldn't even hurt a fly. How was he supposed to kill blood thirty Shadow Auras that want to keelhaul Ash...

He finally figured that he had to look strong. He couldn't have a nervous breakdown when his friends were counting on him to hold his own. He looked at Pikachu, smiled and petted him. Pikachu was looking at him like, 'What was that all about?' when Ash halted. He was now, in front of the Village Headquarters.

"Hey Ash..." A feminine voice spoke from behind Ash. Ash jumped and looked back.

He saw a familiar red-headed girl with a one-sided pigtail, dressed up in blue shorts and a yellow strap top. Misty looked horrible. She had bags under her eyes and her shoulders were drooped like an old lady. When she looked at Ash, he seriously believed it was a ghost.

Brock looked a little better. He was standing as he always is, but he looked like he hadn't slept at all. He had dark rings around his eyes, which looked really weird considering his eyes were just slits. He was dressed up in his usual attire. A green shirt with a greyish-black jacket and brown trousers.

"Um Hey..." Ash said carefully, "So...ready?"

Misty said nothing, while Brock just nodded.

"Let's do this." Brock said, as he pushed open the Main door.

The room was just as Ash remembered it. Oak was exactly in the same spot as he was before, which made Ash wonder if he'd left at all. The thought was just so freaky that Ash pushed it out of his mind at once.

"Um. Hey...Mr. Oak." Ash said politely. As usual, Brock and Misty looked at him as if he'd grown another head and pulled him down in a bow. Out of the corners of his eyes, Ash could see the old seer smiling quietly. 'Great. Nice time to make a total fool of yourself." Ash thought miserably.

"Welcome, Trainees. I trust you slept well?" Oak said. Ash thought he was making fun of them, but then he saw he wasn't even looking At the three. He was talking to a cloaked guy who was sitting beside him, his back turned towards Ash and his friends. He appeared to be quite thin and lean, his clothes a faint shade of blue. He was wearing a brown travelling cloak. He wasn't very tall, around 6 feet 2, but his mere presence made Ash feel invigorated, as if this was a guy he should respect to the most. Oak nodded towards the guy and turned towards the three of them.

"Trainees, this, will be your teacher." Oak nodded towards the cloaked dude.

The guy turned towards them. His face was scarred from battles, yet it looked so peaceful that Ash almost thought he was a Yumi villager. His eyes were a little stern, but otherwise kind. His hair were all spikes and points, kinda like Ash's own but longer. He smiled towards them. Unfortunately, Ash knew who he was. And so did Misty and Brock.

"You're-You're the-" Misty stammered.

"How are-You-" Brock continued.

And Ash? He had the sudden urge to grab his autograph book from home. He gaped at the stranger, his voice betraying him,

"Well, Ash? Do you know who I am?" The guy asked, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Despite being shocked out of his skin so much that even Pikachu would've been brought to shame, Ash steeled his nerves and tried to speak without stammering.

"Slayer of King Pythos. Champion of Queen Adrian and the Master Earth and Steel. Sir Riley Gen, the Blue Spark of Yumi..."

_**Fail ending. Way to overkill, Scott. _ **_

_**Btw, Do you know how annoying it is that the only Aura people besides Ash introduced in the Anime were Sir Riley and Sir Aaron. D: Makes it so very hard to base stuff. XD **_

_**Reviews would be much appreciated. =) After all, it's all about what the readers think and improving. I can't do it without you guys backing me up. \^o^/**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Well, here's the second chapter of A Hero's Rising. Again, all questions shall be answered in Pms. =) **_

_**Lol, I'd forgotten about this chapter this week and had to type it all up in 5 continuous hours of night-writing. And 5 hours sitting at one spot for an ADHD kid like me? It's about as easy as having nine trucks on you for ten minutes without getting crushed. So, sorry for the grammatical errors this chapter. Had no time to edit, lol.**_

_**Let's keep it short, shall we? On with the story-thing!**_

_**Disclaimer: I just realized we're supposed to put this here, although I don't really see the point. =\ I don't own Pokemon, the humans in Pokemon, or the Pokemon on Pokemon(well, actually I do in the games). If I did own any of the above, I would have kicked the show's rating to Teen and stuffed some fluff up it's digital arse.**_

_"I see you've been taking your History lessons, Ash. That is indeed what I'm called," Sir Riley smiled. "Officially."_

_"Um-Y-Yes-Mr." Ash stammered._

_"Yes 'Sir.'" Riley corrected, although he didn't look very offended._

_"Yes...Sir." Ash repeated. Pikachu sighed and smacked him behind the head._

_Riley smiled at Ash as though he was a rare specimen or something, and as far as Ash knew, Lab Rats didn't always have real good luck. He then turned towards Oak, and his expression turned grim._

_"There's no doubt about it. It's happening. The visions...They were true..." The color drained from Oak's face and Ash could see Riley was hesitating to continue. "All three of them. I sense the gift of Aura in them...And this one..." Sir Riley looked quizzically at Ash and winked, "Nevertheless, I take the job."_

_"V-Very well." Oak's voice was trembling, "I'll-I'll just... leave you all for introductions. I must consult the Oracle."_

_And just like that, he left the room._

_"__He needs some time to himself..." Riley sighed, looking at the door. _

_As Oak left, Sir Riley's features seemed to slowly relax a bit. After two whole minutes of silence, he finally raised his arms._

_"Well, aren't you gonna introduce yourselves? You ARE my students now, after all, I think it would be easier to train you if I actually knew what to call you." Sir Riley smiled. _

_Even though Ash had expected it, he couldn't help but feel shocked. Okay, one of the only left Aura Guardians, and ALSO one of the strongest, teaching them, a bunch of kids with no particular talents. The idea was too weird for Ash to take. But Sir Riley was looking at him expectantly, so he figured he had to say something quick._

_"Um...I'm Ash Ketchum." Ash said which sounded stupidly obvious. Ash didn't know what else to say. He didn't have that many talents, nor many hobbies. His favorite place was the sofa, and he sucked at sports. _

_Fortunately, Riley wasn't expecting anything else. Brock and Misty introduced themselves. _

_"Alright then, good. Well, I may as well introduce myself too. My name is Riley Oak, and I'm the son of the man who just left, that is to say, Samuel Oak. I was born and raised here, in Yumi." His eyes twinkled at Ash and his friends' expressions. "I was taught the ways of Aura since I was sixteen, and became an Aura Guardian five years later. And now, it's my duty to pass on what I know to you all, so that the power of Aura may be kept alive and well in the hands of the new generation. My primary job is to protect the masses as well as the council of Elders, and to defeat the growing number Aura Venti for it is my duty, as a true Guardian of Aura." Riley finished._

_Ash wondered if ____he__ could get that cool once he knew all this aura stuff._

_Probably not. But still he- wait, what?_

_"__You're Gary's father?" Ash asked incredulously. Riley's expression turned sour._

_"__Uncle. " Riley said distastefully. "My ____nephew__ can be worse than a Ventus sometimes..."_

_Despite the seriousness of the situation, Ash had to lower his head to hide his smile. He knew how Gary could be. The guy was a huge rebel. Ash figured Riley had been the victim to a few of his pranks too._

_"__Ventus?" Misty asked uncertainly. _

_She still looked pretty shaky, but as far as Ash knew, Misty was the kind of person that'd have the guts to pull an Aura Guardian's ear if ____he__ ever forgot to clean his room or something. She almost reminded Ash of his mom, except Misty was a thousand times more violent. _

_"__Aura Venti..." Riley's expression darkened. "Yes...I can see why Dad didn't explain ____everything__ to you... You see, in the Great Aura War, the Shadow Auras learned many new tricks, and so did Aura Guardians. One of these, was to create."_

_"__To Create?" Brock asked suspiciously. He'd been so quiet all this time, Ash had just figured he knew everything already. _

"Yes." Sir Riley closed his eyes and held his hands out.

Blue light shimmered and bent the air, slowly coming together and forming shape. In a few minutes, the light shaped itself like a rabbit. The blue glowing animal nibbled at Ash's trousers and scampered off.

"What.. in the..." Brock trailed off, wild eyed.

"During when the Shadow Auras were less in number, their leader decided to explore and create new techniques to strengthen his armies. The Aura Life Creation was one of the products. In some time, maybe a few years, that rabbit will fade away. It is a technique only the highest of the Aura Users are capable of performing. It also needs tremendous amounts of Aura." Riley sighing tiredly.

"But then...What's that got to do with Venti? The war was tons of years ago. Even if the Shadow Auras created them, those things would be all faded up right now." Ash noted.

"Well, you see, during the War, the Shadow Auras found a way to...make them permanent. They found a way so the Venti would never age, never fall ill, and the only way to kill them would be to strike with an Aura Weapon. They never faded away, and fought for the Shadow Auras. Even today, thousands still lurk amongst us. They say that when their Leader died, his Aura essence turned into an incredibly powerful energy surge, and thus released tens of thousands of these fiends who destroyed everything in their path. Aura Venti, or literally, storm spirits, due to the immense amount of destruction they cause. The Venti usually be in the forests, they do not like lights, makes them tired, see? But mistake them not, they're vile spirits who'll kill you on sight, unless you kill them first. What's worse is, they are increasing. They live like normal living beings, growing, eating and...multiplying. " Sir Riley said it all in such a grave and bitter tone, Ash wondered if he'd had his own tragedy with these spirits. He decided not to ask.

"But...Sir, these spirits...They'd be just animals...At best a panther, or a lion, maybe some weird cross between them... But they wouldn't cause _that_ much damage, right?" Brock said thoughtfully. There he was, being the smart guy again.

"Ah yes...About that...You see, Aura can be transformed into any physical being, just as long as the being is not as powerful as the Aura user. What you saw right now...well, that was just an example. There are far worse things that can be formed out of Aura than cute little bunnies and weird cross kitties, Brock... The council of Elders are trying their hardest, but to not much success..." Riley said gravely. Ash was thinking about the Video game monsters that he'd always liked. He wasn't sure if he wanted to meet them in person.

"What's the council of Elders?" Ash asked cautiously. He didn't want Riley to get any more serious. He already looked like he was attending a funeral.

Fortunately, the middle-aged man's features seemed to relax. He drew a deep breath.

"As you may know, after the Great Aura War, the number of Aura users greatly dwindled. Not only Aura Guardians, but their associates, families and friends were massacred and shunned off, killing the original Aura Pure-Bloods..." Riley sighed sadly. "It was a time of great sorrow for the Aura users. But some of us...very...very few of us, still operate secretly. To the outside world, it's a known fact that the the number of Aura guardians are now in single digits. But in reality, this is not so."

Riley drew a deep breath. Brock looked uncomfortable. As far as Ash knew of him, he'd already guessed the whole story. He was a darn smart dude, that Brock.

"You see, we chose to hide our true numbers, in fear that if people knew, they'd feel insecure, and once again, history would repeat itself. Once again, the people will be afraid of Aura Guardians, and once again, they would shatter their numbers." Riley said bitterly.

"An Aura guardian is free of where he should go or what he should do, but over time, three Elder Guardians came together. The formed the Elder's Guild, a team of Aura Guardians that have devoted themselves to the cause of defeating Venti and the Shadow Auras. There aren't many in the Elder's Guild, excepting me, around twenty or some. But they are the largest number of Aura Users to ever band together since the War." Riley sighed sadly. "There are three Elders in all, who are basically the leaders of the Guild. They recruit Aura Warriors and try to add more users to their cause. In these times, we need every hand we can get, and since the Venti are constantly increasing, the guild must keep up to keep them in check. Over time, Aura Guardians have defeated thousands of them...but there are still thousands more..."

Riley bit his lower lip. As dumb as Ash was, he finally understood why the Venti were so dangerous. A group of twenty Guardians...fighting off millions of never aging fiends. It was enough to get even the strongest wrestlers wet their loincloths.

_There were a few minutes of silence. Brock looked like he'd been sentenced to being hanged. Misty didn't look any better. Ash was afraid to look at himself. If that's what they'd be facing when they grow up, they were as good as dead already._

_"__But...How were you allowed to teach us...I mean, wouldn't there be a shortage of members in the Guild?" Ash said. He was surprised to hear his own voice. It sounded like a trumpet gone bad._

_"__Ah yes...that." Riley was lost in thought. "Well you see, Ash, while it may be the sworn duty of the Aura Guardians to protect the people, it is ____also__ their duty to make sure the next generation of Aura Users are properly taught. So, in a way, teaching you all is as important as killing off Aura Venti."_

_The comparison didn't make Ash too happy. Another awkward silence fell. Slowly, Sir Riley's face relaxed as he managed a smile and said:_

_"__Well, no point in worrying about all that right now, is it?" ____Kind of hard not to...__Ash thought. "We've got to get you strong don't we? Meet me at Cold Fields tomorrow at 10 AM. One more thing though..."_

_"__What is it?" Misty said miserably. Cold Fields... This just kept getting worse._

_"__As a potential Aura User, you get to choose whether you want to train or not. I can't force any of you into a life like that. You can choose to lead a normal life like everyone else, or train and learn how to control your powers. " _

_"__We don't really ____have__ any other choice." Ash sighed. "It's do or die. Even if we choose not to train, the Venti would sense and kill us anyways."_

_"__Not necessarily." Riley looked away._

_"__eh?" Ash did a o.O_

_"__Training develops your Aura. However, if your Aura is not strong enough, the Venti won't be able to sense your presences and they won't come to fight you. Therefore if you do not train, the Venti won't sense your Aura and will pass over it like any other non-Aura. If you wish a normal life, all you have to do is reject the training. However, If you wish to lead a dangerous life, honing your Aura skills, and using them for the protection of the general public and the innocent, ____be__ there."_

_Ash could sense forced enthusiasm in it. After the stuff they'd just heard, nobody seemed real high on training to certain doom. But they didn't have much time... Pretty soon, Riley would have to return to his duties... _

_Brock and Misty left the room sulkily. Ash couldn't blame them, he felt quite dragged into this stuff himself. One question was still nagging him though..._

_"__S-Sir, um...Professor Oak said that all the Aura people that exist right now are offsprings of normal Non-Aura Users..." Ash said quizzically._

_"__Yes?" Riley raised his eyebrows._

_"__We-Well, isn't there a pure-blood Aura User left...like, anywhere on the planet?" Ash asked solemnly._

_"__The war brought great tragedies, Ash." Sir Riley said gravely. "There is a reason Unova has been famed as the one to have started the mass killing of Aura Guardians. The king of the Unova region, at that time held a grudge against the Guardians. He formed a team, a kind of league of Non-Aura Warriors. They were specially trained to...to kill Aura users...They were demons, Ash, they killed Aura users in cold blood. Potential children were slaughtered, and Adults were strangled in their sleep. They were assassins, trained for the sole purpose of killing a Guardian. They scourged the regions, and ultimately, put an end to the Glorious Race of Humans that once stood strong."_

_Ash gasped. Why would a king be so mean? Wasn't a king supposed to be all public loving and equally distributing? Why would he kill Aura Guardians? Plus, the Aura Guardians would have proved an enormous force in his armies. Why would he-_

_"__That's exactly why, Ash." Ash hated when the father and son did the Mind Reading thing...But then again, he couldn't have managed to say it himself anyways. "You see, he was afraid his armies would be defeated if the Aura Guardians ever revolted against them...The Aura Users are a powerful force, child, a fully trained user can defeat thousands of normal men in a single day. There was also the matter that the Unovan armies were at that time, the most powerful, in all of the regions... He wanted to make sure it stayed that way, and his enemies couldn't use Aura Guardians against him. Therefore, a team of Aura-Killers were trained, known as the Unovic Assassins. They're still there, operating in the shadows. It still hires it's members for assassinations and killings, in exchange of money, but they bear a special hatred towards Aura Guardians... They are one of the main things you must look out for, when you finally go beyond Yumi's limits..."_

_Ash let that sink in. Something told him that life outside Yumi could be very, ____very harsh. __Suddenly his messed up room seemed awfully comfortable to Ash._

_"__Um...Sir Riley-Sir? Are..Are there any...I dunno.. any pure bloods left at all? Like, in hiding or something?" Ash asked uncertainly. Riley stared at the candlelight. _

_"__...Not that we know of, Ash..." Sir Riley said sadly. "And sadly, we know all Users."_

_Ash looked down, nodded, and followed his friends in silence. He had a thousand more questions, but his voice had dug itself in the ground, ostrich-style._

_The trio went to their favorite spot, the cafeteria, which always cheered them up, although it seemed to have lost it's charm today. Now you must be thinking what the heck was a cafe doing in a village. But Yumi had everything a city could have, just not many people used them. _

_They had the coffee in silence. Ash was tempted to just make a break for his house, shut the door and watch Spongebob to calm his nerves. But he had a feeling that even the yellow square dude couldn't wipe out the storm spirits brewing up in his mind. He looked at his friends for assistance._

_For the millionth time today, he wondered why Misty looked so weak. She looked like she'd aged ten years. And why Brock, the guy who was known to be always composed, looked like an insane homeless dude. Ash knew he was probably looking the worst of the three._

_"__Guys...We've gotta do it. Pretty soon the Venti are gonna sense our Aura essence and come after us anyways. We've gotta be ready for them... We've gotta train..." Ash hadn't the slightest motivation behind those words. To be honest, he wanted to back out of it himself. Normal life sounded pretty good against life threatening aura duels._

_"__Yeah. You're right. It's just..." Misty broke off. That was when Ash knew that it wasn't the Aura Training that was bothering Misty. There was something else. Ash looked at Brock like, ____"Well, you're the leader! You gotta raise our Morale! Handle the situation! Cheer her up or something!" __to which of course, Brock gave him the ____"Ass" look._

_Ash knew he was asking too much of the older male, but he just couldn't help it. He was just a kid... There was no way he'd be able to comfort Misty when he was feeling so rattled himself. Fortunately, Brock was a pro at the wise guy stuff. He put a hand on Misty shoulder and said:_

_"__Look Mist, we can't be scared. That's exactly what the Venti and Shadow Auras want us to feel. Despair. We've gotta be strong, show them that we aren't afraid of their means. Our teacher is Sir Riley, one of the greatest Aura Guardians. He'll get us pro-Guardians in no time."_

_"__I know... It's just...What's the point of all this? It's not like we'll be some kind of heroes or something. How many people could we save, really? On the other hand, there'll be an army of hideous psychos after us...Venti, Shadow Auras...There's no way we'd survive." Misty said miserably._

_"__You never know unless you try, Misty." Brock sighed. "Who knows...Maybe we will. All we can do at this point is put our faith in Riley, and train our hardest. We may not become heroes, but at least we'll do something good with our lives instead of living it out like everyone else. As Riley said, Aura's a gift. We can't just waste it." _

_Another inspiring speech by old man Brocko. Misty wiped off her tears and nodded._

_They spent some time in silence. Ash checked his watch. 2 PM. One day... Not much time for mentally preparing themselves, but 'least it was something. Ash decided it'd be best to tell his mom about it all. He never hid anything from his mom, well, except that small crush he had on Rachel in first grade, but that wasn't important. He needed to get all this off. _

_It was already evening by the time he returned home. Giovanni never came home before ten, so Ash wasn't worried about eavesdropping. He didn't mind his step father listening in of course, but Ash was afraid his mom would start smothering him and all that and Giovanni never would let him live it down._

_His mom was doing the laundry. She had on the apron, and as Ash knew, she liked to cook and do the laundry at the same time. He had often wondered why his soup didn't taste like Detergents, his mom did the two things with the same hands. But then again, she was an expert cook after all. Or maybe she had four hidden arms._

_"__Um..Mom, can I talk to you?" Ash said quietly. _

_"__Oh but Ash, I'm busy-Oh. Of course." Ash must have looked pretty pathetic. As soon as his mom saw his face, she grew concerned and ditched the basket of clothes in her hands. They both went to the living room. _

_"__So...What's wrong, honey?" His mom said worriedly._

_"__Ugm...Well, You see..." Ash narrated out his whole day. Delia was a good listener. She didn't say anything, just looked at him as if urging to go on. _

_They stayed silent for a while._

_"__What should I do...?" Ash pleaded. Delia sighed._

_"__Ash, choices complicate every life, and you can't rely on your mom to choose for you. There's no doubt Venti will come after you once you start training, but it's really up to your feelings whether you wanna be an Aura Guardian or not. Danger and Nobility, or Simplicity and Safety."_

_"__My feelings huh?" Ash said sarcastically. "They're telling me to run like a mouse and hide in some box."_

_"__Well then, they're mixed up. I wouldn't blame you, you've just been given a choice that would decide the path of your life. Give them time. The answer will reveal itself to you soon enough." _

_Not a very awesome pep talk, but it helped coming from his mom. _

_"__Wish me luck then." Ash sighed. _

_Night_

Ash didn't have a wink of sleep. Not even a short nap. A million thoughts were once again raiding his mind. _Woah, boy. You're an Aura User!_ , _Is that really a good thing though? , Aura Users never have a safe fate. _

He'd read about Aura Guardians in the stories. They were often beheaded, mutilated, maimed, burnt, buried alive, hanged, electrocuted, boiled in oil, impaled and basically tortured to a very, very horrible death.

He wasn't sure if he wanted that kinda power. Power that'll eventually get him killed in some inhumane way.

At last, he got fed up of lying around and jumped out of his bed. Pikachu cooed climbed up his shoulder.

"Can't sleep too huh? Let's take a walk." Ash smiled.

Ash unbolted the ventilator of his room and climbed down the external pipes. Just as he turned, his face met the ghostly smile of Delia Ketchum.

"Going somewhere?"

Ash nearly jumped out of his skin. He raised his arms in defense. Gosh, his mom could make a nice Misty.

"No, mom. I was just uh... taking a walk..." Ash tried to explain. Delia sighed.

"Well, you could have just used the door. Need company?" Delia asked.

"I don't know, Mom... I don't think I feel like talking to higher primates right now..."

"I understand." Delia smiled. She knew where he was going.

Ash gave her one last "Be back in a bit" smile and hurried off in the opposite direction. Delia just smiled and shook her head.

Ash slowed down to a normal walk until he reached his favorite place to take a night stroll. The banks of River Jean. The place was like a movie theater for Pokemon. He sat down on a large rock, looking at his and Pikachu's reflections in the calm Jean Waters. He sighed to himself.

_Now, for a normal kid, the answer would be obvious. Be a Superhero, with super awesome Blue glowing light powers to kill Monsters and save innocent people's lives. But actually having to face a situation like that...It felt different... Those powers came at a great risk. Ash was tempted to chicken out. Tempted to be like other people, leading a normal life with normal problems, not something as inhuman as Venti. He didn't want his life to be so short, he didn't want it to be taken away from him by some freaky video game monster. He didn't want all this..._

"You know Pikachu...I just can't bring myself to accept all of this...stuff. I mean, we're gonna be battling for real, like, for our lives. Not some silly Arm Wrestling we used to do with Misty. We're gonna fight with a real blade, and so would our opponents... Those things can hurt to say the least...I dunno... I guess I'm just asking. Are you okay with all of this? Aren't you kinda scared?"

Ash continued staring at the river. Pikachu stayed silent for a while before climbing up Ash and yelling in his ears in his PikaTongue

_Of course I'm scared. What do you take me for, a PokeHercules? It's just that I've taught myself not to be scared. In times like these... Do you honestly think we could escape fighting if we chose not to fight back? These are times of war, fighting will get to us, one way or another. All we're doing, is learning how to defend ourselves. It's a nature inherent to all Pokemon._

Ash realized that Pikachu was pretty smart for a cute 2 feet long yellow rodent. Even wiser than Ash, but that wasn't saying much. If he hadn't c-HOLY FRIGGIN BROOMSTICKS!-

"You...Pika...Talk...Me...Understood..." Ash stammered. Pikachu got up and slapped him, full across the face.

"Thanks, I needed that. Now tell me. How the hell can I understand you?" Ash said incredulously.

_Aura Telepathy. I thought you knew?_

"You mean I could always understand you?" Ash asked in disbelief.

_I dunno. Maybe not. I've never tried talking to you with Aura before, since us Non-Aura Pokemon don't really bother with those powers much, even if we do have them in small quantities. _Pikachu scratched his chin in a poor imitation of Oak.

"Woah, you mean like, all aura peeps can talk to Pokemon?" Ash asked amazedly.

_Probably. You've just discovered your Aura, and haven't even seen or used it properly yet. It's possible that the other Aura users can do way cooler stuff than just talking to Pokemon. _Pikachu folded up his Forearms and nodded sagely. Ash went shifty eyed.

"Thanks Pikachu. That makes me feel a ton better." Ash grumbled. Pikachu laughed in it's PikaVoice.

Suddenly, they heard a soft rumble behind the bushes. Ash grabbed a stick and raised it, but dropped it instantly, realizing it was a Marill that just stumbled out of the bush.

_Hey partner! Nice night to be talking to Pokemon, ain't it? _The Marill spoke.

"Er... Right. It is, partner." Ash smiled nervously. "So what brings you here?"

_Oh nothin. Me and mah buddies were just gonna take a night dip to calm them whiskers of ours. Come out, guys~! _The marill called out behind himself.

Two little Azurills and one big heavy Azumarill skipped out of the bushes. All of them gathered around Ash.

_An Aura user eh? Haven't seen one of you lot in a long~ while. So, done 'ny training yet, mate? _The Azumarill chirped.

"Um. No, not yet." Ash squeaked. A normal human would have sensed how freaked out Ash was feeling, but apparently, squeaking was a normal form of speech in PokeTongue.

_Damn right, he hasn't, dude! _The Marill scolded his evolution. _If he had, he'd be all scarred and tough looking. Look at him! He's a wimp! You oughta know your Humans better, Frank!_

Ash choked. "Frank?"

_Yeah, that's me name, lad. _The Azumarill said.

"Pokemon have names?" Ash asked as politely as possible.

Azumarill looked at him as if he'd dropped from the moon.

_Why, yes. Do we call every human "Homo Sapien"? We Pokemon have dignity too you know. We have our own names. Our own identities. _The Azumarill shook his head indignantly.

Ash looked at Pikachu like, 'What the heck?'. He just shrugged.

"So, uh...Frank. I was just thinking. Should I really take this up? I mean, I know I've been nagging everyone on this subject too long, but I just can't help it. I need to know." Ash asked his Blue friend carefully.

_Oh you mean the training? Sure you_ should. _Why would you think you shouldn't, young 'un?_

"It's just... All I'd do is mess everything up for the others and get us killed a little quicker. What use will I be, really? I'm just one me, just as expendable as any tissue. Taking up this training is suicide, but what would I really _do_ once I start training. I'll just get in the way." Ash sighed.

_Well, that's simple, ain't it lad? You'd help creatures. Take from today. Pikachu tells me you just discovered Aura Telepathy. Think how many Pokemon you could help just by talking to them. Wars will come, and neither Pokemon nor people would be safe from them. But with the power of Aura, you can help both sides. Aura is the link between Humans and Pokemon. Don't let it go to waste now! _The Azumarill got behind Ash and gave him a full paw pat.

_You're the bridge between the Pokemon world and the human, son. You can help both, fight for both, fight 'with' both. How many other humans do you know that would have the guts enough to step into battle and help their Pokemon out in a fully fledged Pokemon battle? Not too many, I tell ya. That's because not many humans have the guts or the gifts to stand and fight alongside their Pokemon. You have both, and thus you will gain the respect of both worlds._

Ash sat in stunned silence. His eyes were hidden by the shadows. He stayed like that for a long time before finally getting up and wiping his face.

"Thanks, Frank. I needed that." Ash smiled towards the Azumarill.

_Hmmf! Well, I don't just pretend to be awesome, lad. Besides, used to know an Aura Trainee just like you when I was a wee Azurill! Just figured it be my duty to help someone with the same powers!_

"Another Aura Trainee? Who was it?" Ash said confusedly.

_Oh just some 16 year old guy with dark blue hair. Can't remember his name, pre-evolution life is pretty fuzzy, see? Didn't look much back then, but I always knew the lad had it in him. I can spot talent right away!_

Ash laughed lightly, but then checked his watch.

"Oh-ah crap... Listen Frank, we gotta run. Pretty late for us humans to be Poketalking right now..." Ash smiled apologetically.

_Nah, It's all cool, son. Young people need their sleep! Why my Azurill should sleep too. Meet you again, then._

_Ash winked and then hurried back home with Pikachu._

Ash used the front door instead of sneaking in.

"Did it help?" The ghostly voice of Delia Ketchum spoke beside Ash as he entered. Once again, Ash jumped.

"Geez mom, you gotta stop doing that. And yes, it did. Frank the talking Azumarill helped me. Wish me luck, coz I'm goi' training t'morrow! " With that Ash sprinted up the staircase to his room, leaving Delia in a completely lost state.

"Him and his crazy TV shows..." Delia sighed.

Back in Ash's room, he lied down on his bed. He didn't have much difficulty sleeping this time. The questions had stopped devastating his mind. He felt calmer, though he didn't know why. He smiled once more, patted Pikachu goodnight and drifted off to a dreamless sleep.

Maybe he _would_ get killed in horrible ways.

But at least, he'd die for a good cause.

And that would plenty well make up for it.

_**Yeah, yeah. I know what you're thinkin. Venti? Dude, Latin's a dead language! :F**_

_**And Let me just admit, this chapter was by far worse than any I've ever wrote, or ever will write. Seriously, I wrote it in a state of boredom and that kinda state never produces good results in my case. The grammar was pretty horrible too. So, I apologize if some readers found it boring. I honestly won't ever write when I'm in one of these moods of mine. **_

_**The next two-three chapters would deal with the Training. For those of you who don't like stuff like that, bear with me because though the real story starts **____**after**__** Ash has been properly trained, the training itself will have events that are important as heck for the plot.**_

_**Hope you liked it. ;3 Do review and tell me what to improve on. I need Constructive criticism/motivation to improve my writing. 3**_

_**~Scott**_


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